Drawer locking mechanism



Jan. 12, 1932. J. STURM DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 5, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet gwvwntoz J06 epfz Stunm gwwzntoz 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Joseph Starm 4 Y a 7 6% 6X0 wan a w m ,6, WAN-VI- -ITC 6 r v w 6 0 Z 9U 6 a a6 a 0 6 M J. STU RM DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 5, 192a rag. 2

Jan. 12, 1932.

Jan. 12, 1932. J. sTuRM DRAWER- LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 5, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 mg. 6d

gnomvtcw Joseph Sturrn J. STURM DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM Jan. 12, 1932.

Filed Nov. 5, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 gwue'nioc LNJ.

' Joseph Stur'm vide a locking'mechanism for desks and the V course of the following. description of; a preferred embodiment of; the. invent on,

Patented Jan. 19 32 STEEL CORPORATION, or YOUNGSTOWN,

- orrIo, A" oonronn'rIon on NEW JERSEY V.

, .DRAWEB' LOCKING- -MEGHANISM Application filed. November This invention r-elates ito drawer-lockingmechanism for desks and the like; sheet metal desks .of the type now generally 1n commercial use, the locking of all thepedes. ital drawers is-usually effectedby the closing of the center or knee-space 'drawer. I- Ieretofore it has beennecessary, in. order to have 7 access to one or more of; the pedestaldrawers, to manually pull the center drawer out a sufficient distance to permit therpedestal drawer locking mechanism to disengage the pedestal drawers. The precise distance which the center drawer must be pulledout, to permit such operation,.varies tosuch an extent in different desks, that only a cut and try method will ensure the positive unlocking of the pedestal drawers.-- 7

Frequently, regardless of the distance the center drawer is pulled out the pedestaldrawer locking-mechanism does; not disengage the pedestal drawers,-;due perhaps to corrosion or disuse'of' such mechanism. In such cases, it is necessary to close :thecenter drawer. violently in an effort to loosenthe sticking pedeStaI drawer locking mechanism, with theresult-that both the desk and mechanism are liable to "be the locking damaged. ,7 n v It is a primary. object of; the present invention to obviate the above mentioned difliculties, by providing a locking mechanism for desks and the'like, which will assure positive locking and unlocking of the pedeS- tal drawers. 7

Another object of the invention is to prolike, which will be of ruggedconstruction, simple in operation, and will permit of easy assembly and disassembly.

These and other objects ofthe invention will become more readily-apparent in the taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a sheet metal desk, w i th the top removed'to more clearly show the locking mechanism; vFig. 2 is a cross section through the desk -.taken onthe line ofvFig, 1, andshowing 1. 1923. sierial .No. 317,131. 7 l

in elevation the pedestal V. d

mechanism in locking position;

awer locking T hlj -ig'. '3 is a fragmentary 'cross section I though the. desk taken jonflthe line of ,Fig. and sh0win g the center drawer in locked posit on;

tion

Fig.

F 3a isfalviewsimilarto Fig. and Q showlngthe center drawer inunlocked p,osi-' through the desk, taken on'the line 4 4 of f F g-1.; U I Fig, 5 1s aperspectiveview of one ofthe pedestal "drawer locking hooks; andlFig. 6

is a perspective view of one oflthei pedestal drawer locking hook springs.

Referr ng more particularly to, the draw- "ings, wherein like reference characters 7 are fused todesignate like parts, the desk includes pedestal units 1,1, a center drawer c 2 and a top 3. The pedestal units bein glexactly alike, the pedestal drawer locking mechanism will be hereinafter generally describedIwithfreference to only" one ofthe units. J p 1 .The pedestal'units 1, 1, include legs 4 at eachcorner thereof, and knee-space sides '5,

suitably secured. to the two 'inner legs ofe'ach unit; Each pedestal unitcontainsdrawers 6, to the sides of each of which" are rigidly secured, as by welding, suspension channels 7, whlch are slidably mounted in suspension channels 8. Suspension channels 8 are seby welding, to'the knee-space side 5, and to the outer side (not shown) of each pedestal unit. respectively. Clips 10, consisting of channel shaped portions 11, and offset tongues112, are secured, as bywelding, near the rear end of those suspensionchannelsB, wh ch are ad aGent the knee-space side 5,

pension channels 13 areslidab'ly mounted i n suspension ch n els 14, w ich a e Secured,

curedfas by welding, at each end to legs 4, and intermediate their ends to verticallydis posed 2 bars 9, which are in. turn secured as f as by welding, at each end to legs 4, and saddles 15, which are in turn secured as by welding to knee-space sides 5.

' Secured as by welding, near the top and 5 to the rear of knee-space sides'5 are saddles 16 and 17, provided in their intermediate portion with holes 18 and 19 respectively. A hole 20 is provided in each knee-space side Holes 18, 19' and 20 are coaxial and-serve as bearings for, a crank 21. Each crank 21 consists of a body portion 22, and an offset pin 23. VThe opposite end of the body portion 22 is threaded and cut away on opposite sides thereof to form an approximately rectangular portion 24;. f

Non-rotatably mounted on the rectangular portion 24c'of the crank '21, is an arm 25 hav- I in'g'a bifurcated end, consisting of furcations 1t is onlynecessary to retract the bolt 41 26,-and 27. The arm 25 is prevented from 20 lateral movement by means of a nut 28. As will be noted in Fig. 3, suspension channels 13'are longer than the center drawer 2, and are provided, near their rear extremities with pins 29. e r I Suspended from the offsetpin 23 of crank 21 is a lock bar 30, which is guided for vertical.reciprocal motion in the channel shaped portions 11 of clips 10, and is restrained from excessive lateral movement by means of pins 31, secured to the clips.

v The normaldownward pull of gravity on I thebar 30, is assisted by a tension coil spring 32, which is secured at its upper end to the bar 30, and at its lower end, to one of the pins 31. Downward movement of the bar is limited by means of extrusions 33, as will be later described. p

Pivotally' secured at spaced points on the lock bar 30, are pedestal drawer locking hooks 34, each of which includes an upwardly and backwardly sloping edge 35, and a seat 361 The hooks 34:are normally held in a position at rightang'les to the lock bar 30, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, by means of wire springs 37 but are prevented from moving upwardly past the position shown in solid lines, by means of extrusions 38, of lock bar 30, which abut the lower rear edges of the hooks 34:.

' As will be noted in Fig.2, suspension channels 7 are longer than the pedestal drawers 6, and are provided near their rear extremities with pins 39.

Y The center drawer 2 is further provided -with a key lock 40, having a bolt 41, which may be projected upward and in the rear of a I. strike 42, secured to the dependent apron 43 of the top 3. i The operation of the aforesaid locking mechanism is'briefiy as follows:

With the center drawer 2 looked, as shown in Fig 3, the pin 29 bears against the ureation 27 of the arm 25, and through the intermediary of the crank 21, holds the lock bar against the lines, at w, thepin 39 in such closing movement sliding on the rearwardly and upwardly V sloping edge'35of the hook 34, and forcing the hook to swing downward on its pivot pressure of the spring 37 as shown in dotted lines atb.

To unlock all of the drawersof the desk of the lock-e0. WVith the center drawerthusi released, 'thecoil spring 32, which is under lines inFig; 2 at c, and thelatter is prevented from further downwardmovement by theceo abutment of extrusion 33 against the upper edge of the channel shaped portion 11, of the uppermost clip 10. This action brings all the hooks to the position indicated in dotted lines at (Z jandunlocks the drawers 6.

At the same time, the downward movement of the lock bar 30, swings the crank 21 to the position shown in dotted lines at e, the

arm 25 assuming the position shown in Fig. "3a. Furcation 27 bearsj'against the pin 297100 and the'rebyforces the center drawer 2 outwardly to the 'position shown in'this figure.

' The weight of the bar 30, supplemented by the tension of the coil spring 32, is sufiicient to move the center drawer 2, to the position' lo5 shown in F ig.3a evenif the drawer is heavily loaded; V

Should the coil spring 32 break, or become disengaged'from-thelock bar 30, or the lock bar 30 stick to such an extentthat the spring llo is not capable of pulling it downward, the pedestal drawers may be unlocked by pulling the center drawer 2 out. Pulling the center drawer out causes the pin 29 to bear against furcation 26 of the, arm 25, thus ils swinging the crank21, and moving the lock bar 30 to its lowermost position.

-It will be seen that provision has been made, not only for positive locking, but also for positive. unlocking of the pedestalfigo drawers, and that in-normaluse of the desk,

the necessity for manually pulling the center drawer out to any predetermined position to unlock the pedestal drawers isentirely obviated. 1

Itwill be understood that the pedestal drawer lockingmechanisms' for both pedestal units,.are'alike, and that they are operated simultaneously by the center drawer.

It will be further understood'that' the lo'cking mechanism herein described'is not necessarily limited foruse in a desk, but may be used in connection with the lockin of other drawer systems, and thatvarious dhangesin the locking mechanism, per se, may be made without departing from the invention, the

scope of which is defined in the appended claims. 7

Claims i 1. In a locking mechanism for a plurality of drawers, yieldable means placed in position by the closing of one of said drawers to permit the locking of the other drawers, said meansincluding a bar having a plurality of hooks resiliently mounted thereon, and means operable by the drawer in its openin movement to positively unlockthe other rawers.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, in which the hooks are pivotally mounted on the bar, and spring means are provided for normally holding the hooks in their uppermost pivotal position.

3. A structure as defined in claim 1, in

which the last-named means includes a crank, rotation of which in one directlonis adapted to movethe bar to drawer unlocklngposltlon,

and a pin on said drawer adapted to cause rotation of said crank in said direction.

4. In a locking mechanism for a plurality of drawers, drawer locking means movable to locking position by the closing of one of said drawers, said means being yi'eldable to permit the closing and locking ofthe other drawers while said one drawer is closed,

means for positively opening said one drawer when it is unlocked, and means operable by the opening-of said one drawer to positively unlock the other drawers.

5. A structure as defined in claim 4, in which the first-named means includes a bar force the drawer open, and a coil spring having connections for rotating the crank in said direction.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOSEPH STURM. 

